EPL Odds: Shaky Liverpool Face A Reliable Chelsea
Liverpool (+157) vs. Chelsea (+200), Draw (+245)
The highly anticipated match between Liverpool (13-6-3, 45 points) and Chelsea (18-1-3, 55 points) takes place on Tuesday, January 31st at Anfield Stadium for the 23rd fixture of the English Premier League.
A couple of weeks ago the game was heralded as the match that could decide the league leader, but after a series of hiccups from Liverpool, that’s not the case anymore. The Reds have failed to win any of their last three league games, drawing two and losing one.
They had a respectable 1-1 draw against Man U, but their draw to Sunderland and embarrassing 3-2 loss to 17th-place Swansea has left their title hopes in disarray. They now sit in fourth, ten points below Chelsea.
The loss to Swansea was particularly painful for the Reds. Fernando Llorente put Swansea up 2-0 with two goals in the space of four minutes. Liverpool then slowly bounced back with two impressive goals of their own, leveling the score. But it was all for nothing after some sloppy defending gave Gylfi Sigurdsson the chance to score the game winner for Swansea. Liverpool were left dejected, having lost a game they were expected to easily win.
That’s been the story of Liverpool: a little bit of hope followed by a whole lotta disappointment.
Chelsea, on the other hand, have been as steady as a leading side can be. They’ve bounced straight back from their loss against Tottenham, collecting easy points against Leicester City and Hull. And even the turmoil off the field between star striker Diego Costa and manager Antonio Conte has not spilled onto the pitch. The Brazilian-born striker opened the scoring against Hull and had a great game by all accounts.
Liverpool will be without top-scorer Sadio Mane, who will be playing in the African Cup of Nations quarterfinals. That’s not too big of a problem for Liverpool since they definitely do not lack firepower up front, but against Chelsea they will need everything they have.
Liverpool will have the home advantage against Chelsea but their inconsistency is a cause for concern. Chelsea seems to do just fine both at home and away, and their form at the moment is unparalleled in the league.
Pick: Chelsea (+200)
Photo credit: “Eden Hazard” by Aleksandr Osipov, CC BY-SA 2.0 [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0], via Flickr.
Don Aguero is a man of many talents, writing about nearly anything you can put odds to. Don has been writing for SportsBettingDime since 2015, covering sports, entertainment and politics. You name it, he's covered it! He is also a steadfast West Ham fan, and has learned to embrace that suffering.
